LEED Parking: Can Green Parking Garages Be Certified?

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LEED Certification and Parking Facilities: Reducing Environmental Footprints

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification is part of a nationwide green construction program that grants accreditation to buildings and facilities that meet demanding energy efficiency and ecological standards. Earlier in LEED’s history, there was ongoing debate as to whether or not green parking garages, as standalone structures, could qualify for LEED certification. The long and short of it boils down to this: parking facilities by themselves cannot be certified under the LEED program, but they can incorporate features that help the building, as a whole, earn certification.

In addition, after the LEED decision, a new organization and new certification arose: the Green Parking Council and Green Garage Certification, recently renamed Parksmart. To make things even more confusing, Green Building Certification, Inc., which manages LEED certification for the USGBC, now manages Parksmart certification, too. So yes, green parking garages can be certified, just not LEED certified.

Technicalities and certifications aside, there are plenty of ways to “go green” by improving energy efficiency and reducing the environmental footprint of parking facilities. Lighting systems, parking priorities, construction materials and ventilation systems can all be configured to support green initiatives.

The Impact of Efficient Lighting

While parking structures themselves may not be eligible for LEED certification, they can take part in the U.S. Energy Department’s Lighting Energy Efficiency in Parking (LEEP) initiative. When the campaign went widespread in 2014, participating partners were able to cut lighting-related energy use by a whopping 90 percent.

The program encourages parking garages to switch to energy-efficient options like fluorescent, halide and LED-powered systems. It also promotes technologies that offer better control over light activation and deactivation, ensuring energy isn’t being wasted when the facility isn’t in use.

Special Access for Drivers of Efficient Vehicles

Another strategy that’s been used in traffic-heavy areas like Southern California is to give priority access to drivers of fuel-efficient hybrid or electric vehicles. Giving these vehicles access to the most conveniently located spots raises awareness of ecological issues and rewards drivers who are doing their part to reduce carbon emissions.

Getting Creative with Construction Materials

Paul de Ruiter Architects, a Dutch building design firm, recently made waves with a bold approach to parking structure construction. The firm created a garage made completely of recyclable materials, and engineered it so it could be dismantled in the future, when sustainable modes of transportation have become the standard and dedicated parking space for cars is no longer needed.
De Ruiter’s building, known as the Mors Gate garage, also uses natural ventilation, heat recovery systems and other advanced green technologies, leading some to hail it as a new standard in parking structure design. Even though a “future without cars” is still a long way off, innovation remains a powerful weapon in the fight against pollution.

Reducing Demand

While parking facilities themselves may not be eligible for LEED, one step toward certification for your building can include reducing the number of parking spaces you offer. How can this be justified? By reducing demand. TDM programs and software like RideAmigos can have an incredible effect on shifting the way people think about and use transportation, particularly for commuting. Contact us to learn more about how your organization can reduce its parking and environmental footprints and help transform transportation.

3 Impressive Executives Leading the Way to Smarter Commuting

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Join these high-profile organizational leaders in inspiring people to change how they commute

Leading by example is one of the most effective ways to encourage organizational change. An increasing number of executives are doing exactly that when it comes to smarter commuting. Here’s a look at three people in leadership positions who are choosing enjoyable, environmentally friendly ways of getting to work:

Alan Elser
CFO, GM Nameplate

Despite a notoriously rainy climate, a growing number of Seattle commuters are choosing to bike to work throughout the year. Among them is Alan Elser, the chief financial officer of GM Nameplate, a leading supplier of custom-manufactured industrial goods
In 2013, the Puget Sound Business Journal reported that Elser bikes to work three times a week. The 24-mile journey between GM Nameplate’s Seattle headquarters and his May Valley-area home is undaunting for Elser. “Riding in in the morning is a great way to wake up and plan your day,” Elser said in an interview. “Riding home is a chance to decompress.”

Jennifer Welch
Managing Deputy Commissioner,
Chicago Department of Family and Support Services

She may have a much shorter commute than Elser, but Jennifer Welch bikes to work and back all year round, despite during Chicago’s notoriously cold and snowy winters. Her four-mile commute takes her from Logan Square toward the center of the city. Even when Chicago was hammered by the “Snowmaggedon” blizzard in the winter of 2011, Welch bundled up and biked to her job at the Department of Family and Support Services. Even more, her blizzard bike commute included a trip to the city’s 911 center to attend to a staffing emergency.

Christopher Eisgruber
President, Princeton University

The Princeton University president has emerged as a strong voice in the local call for better biking infrastructure. Traffic congestion makes cycling to Princeton’s campus challenging. But, thanks to a vocal advocacy campaign, the city of Princeton seems to be moving towards becoming more bike-friendly. Eisgruber says he cycles to work as often as possible, and hopes that the city will do its part to encourage others to join him.

RideAmigos salutes these and the many other business, education and government leaders who are leaving their cars behind more often. If you’re part of an organization that’s committed to helping commuters make smarter choices, be sure to check out our comprehensive TDM software toolkit. We deliver powerful solutions for ridesharing, trip planning, incentives, and data analysis.  Transforming how your organization commutes can have a major positive impact on your bottom line. Contact us to schedule your personal demonstration.

The Benefits of a Guaranteed Ride Home

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What is a Guaranteed Ride Home program?

Imagine these scenarios: an employee who commutes by bike is about to head home when an unexpected thunderstorm hits. Or, a public transit commuter has to suddenly rush home to pick up a sick child from school. A Guaranteed Ride Home program comes through by providing quick, reliable transportation when it’s needed most.

A Guaranteed Ride Home program (sometimes called an Emergency Ride Home program) is a common feature of workplaces that encourage commuters to use means other than than single occupant vehicles. While the specifics of each program vary from company to company, they generally follow this type of structure:

  • The program is open to employees that regularly use alternative means of transportation during their commutes
  • “Alternative means of transportation” can include cycling, walking, public transit or any other approved mode
  • Employees that use these modes for commuting at least two to three times per week qualify for the program
  • Qualified employees can get a free ride home a specified number of times per year if an emergency situation arises

Guaranteed Ride Home programs encourage alternative transportation use

The key benefit of setting up an Emergency/Guaranteed Ride Home program is that it makes it commuters more likely to use alternative transportation. If people know they have a reliable ride home in an emergency, they’re more likely to skip the solo drive.

The RideAmigos platform offers extensive technical support to workplace managers who want to create Guaranteed Ride Home programs. Creating and managing such a program is quick and easy, thanks to our comprehensive toolkit.

Here’s an example of how simple it is to set up and manage a ride home program using RideAmigos:

  • Create a specific private network that will be limited to employees who are eligible to participate in the program.
  • Attach any necessary descriptions to each user in the system, or send a message to qualified users to let them know they’re in the program.
  • Use the platform’s survey tool to collect information from participants, as needed.
  • Add new members manually, or by sending “join us” links to qualified employees.
  • Create a points program to manage the redemption of rides by employees who qualify.
  • Add the ride home vouchers as inventory items; they will be managed and distributed automatically by the platform.

You can view more details and specifics by visiting the RideAmigos Academy help page on Guaranteed Ride Home programs.

Reduce Your Parking Footprint for LEED Credit

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Earn credit toward LEED certification by reducing your building’s parking footprint

Parking spaces are expensive and are a major source of soil and water pollution. Forward-thinking companies seeking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for their buildings can earn credit by minimizing the environmental impact of their parking facilities. If you’re planning or building a new location for your company and you want to enjoy the ecological and marketing benefits that come with LEED certification, it’s easy to take action to start reducing your parking footprint now.

LEED is the world’s most recognized green building certification. Available to buildings that meet elevated standards for energy efficiency and green design, LEED certification is more than just a way to help reduce pollution and minimize ecological impact. It also supports marketing and branding efforts by reinforcing your company’s ecologically friendly values, and it can also add to the resale price of the finished property.

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) recently announced a new program that allows builders to earn credit towards LEED certification by reducing their parking footprint. Here are the specifics:

  • To qualify, buildings must not have more than the minimum parking capacity, as defined by local code requirements.
  • Buildings can also qualify by having less parking capacity than the recommended base ratios suggested by the Parking Consultants Council (PCC), which are available in the Institute of Transportation Engineers’ Transportation Planning Handbook, 3rd Edition, Tables 18-2, 18-3 and 18-4.
  • Projects are also able to earn points by meeting LT Credit Surrounding Density and Diverse Areas, or LT Credit Access to Quality Transit requirements.
  • Projects without these LT credits must have at least 20 percent less parking capacity than the PCC base ratios.
  • Projects with LT credits must have at least 40 percent less parking capacity than the PCC base ratios.

Full program details can be viewed on the USGBC website.

Empower commuters to use alternative means of transportation to reduce your parking needs

If you’re looking to reduce your parking capacity, it’s essential that you offer alternatives to commuters and employees. Encouraging people to use environmentally responsible transportation such as ridesharing, carpooling, public transit, or biking is the best way to keep your parking requirements as low as possible. Transportation demand management software, like RideAmigos, provides powerful tools for reducing your parking needs by empowering and incentivizing people to change the way they commute. 

Our revolutionary transportation management platform offers an easy-to-use commuter trip planner, extensive ridesharing features, motivational incentive options, powerful data analysis tools, and more. We make it easy for users to skip the solo drive and affordable for organizations to reduce their environmental footprint. To learn more, check out our demo video or contact us today.

Photo Credit: Tilt Shift Parking Lot by Nic Redhead

Workplace Experience & Commuter Benefits

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Changing the way businesses think about employee engagement

Companies that attract and retain the top available talent give themselves a major competitive advantage. Ensuring that employees are satisfied and happy not only in their work, but also in the general workplace environment is one of the keys to building the kind of reputation in-demand job candidates look for in a prospective employer.

Traditionally, such strategies were built around incentive and benefit programs. Health insurance, pension plan contributions, stock options, and other financial perks did the trick in years past, but nowadays, employees are looking for more. To meet the changing needs and preferences of workers in the contemporary environment, many companies are bringing in workplace experience managers.

The concept of workplace experience is a relatively new one. It goes beyond simple cash and benefits compensation, and instead focuses on projecting positive attitudes throughout the work environment by providing perks like health and wellness programs, company-sponsored social outings, free coffee bars, on-site massage therapy, and creativity-oriented lounge areas.

Building a positive workplace experience is about more than facilities; it’s about attitudes and values. For example, new research has proven that daytime naps help energize employees, increase mental engagement, and stimulate creative thinking. Progressive companies have responded by encouraging workers to take midday snoozes, and giving them comfortable places to grab a few winks. It’s a win-win situation, building trust and goodwill on the employee end and boosting productivity on the business end.

How transportation management strategies fit into the workplace experience movement

Providing employees with commuting alternatives is fast becoming a central tenet of today’s workplace experience programs. Studies have shown that solo commutes can be a major drain on morale, while researchers have also found links between shared transportation and higher levels of general life satisfaction. As such, a growing number of workplace experience managers are turning to options like ridesharing and carpooling programs and alternative transportation incentives to relieve some of the daily grind and help employees arrive at work refreshed, relaxed, and in a positive mindset.

To meet the growing demand for solutions to enhance workplace experience, software developers are building advanced commuter management platforms that help people make the most of group and shared transportation options. Going forward, technological solutions like the RideAmigos platform will increasingly become an integral part of a comprehensive workplace experience strategy built to attract and retain top employees.

Is your company helping your employees to have the most positive commutes possible?

Hacking the Corporate Commuting Dilemma

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Corporate commuting trends are changing. Will your organization change with them?

Once upon a time, not all that long ago, commuters didn’t think too hard about their daily journeys. Every morning, they’d get in their cars and drive the same route to work. If there happened to be a lot more traffic than usual on the road that day…well, then the drive would take a little longer. If road improvements or construction shut down a lane or two along the most direct route to work…well, they’d manage. That’s just the way things go.

Not anymore.

Times are changing, and corporate commuters are changing with them. Reliance on single-occupancy vehicles is diminishing, and the general public’s awareness of the ecological impact of their transportation decisions is at an all-time high. Given these trends, it’s no surprise that experts are detecting significant changes in the way people get to and from work.

How RideAmigos Supports New and Progressive Corporate Commuting Solutions

The 2013 American Commuter Survey found that Generation X-ers and millennials are commuting by car less and less with each passing year. People in younger demographics are also taking public transit and walking to work with greater frequency than any other age group.

In cities like San Francisco, Boston and New York, the microtransit trend is making major headway. Privately operated mini-buses and ride shares are giving corporate commuters meaningful and convenient alternatives to mass transit and single-occupancy vehicles.

Businesses have a lot to gain by encouraging employees to seek out quicker, greener ways to get to work. Improved productivity is a big and obvious bonus, but there are also hidden benefits. One biggie is the fact that companies with a strong sense of social responsibility also tend to have higher rates of employee satisfaction – and that’s something that pays off in a big way, on and on down the line.

If you’d like to be a part of the corporate commuting revolution, the RideAmigos team can provide all the tools you need. Trip planners, journey loggers, incentive and benefit trackers, analysis tools, ride-sharing platforms – they’re all here. And they’ll all help you build a happier, healthier, more creative and more engaged workforce. Contact us to learn more.